In this article the authors present a review of literature from multiple disciplines pertaining to using eBooks in the classroom in order to understand the underlying literacy and technology related issues and challenges. eBooks brought about changes in how students learn to read, and in how they read to learn. They require students to learn new…

Praises librarians who, with skill and affection, bring readers to books that help them shape and understand their lives. Quotes excerpts from poetry and prose with sometimes surprising images of librarians. (SR)

Presents a "conversation" (only slightly redrafted versions of first-and-final electronic communications) on the concept of "compellingness" in reading research (the conditions under which readers come to believe what an author writes). Draws on the authors' reading in logic, literary theory, mathematics, and the philosophy of…

Examines Louise Rosenblatt's theory of the reading transaction to aid teachers in the dilemma of either encouraging individual responses to literature or expecting literal comprehension of the material. Encourages teachers to look at their teaching purposes for any given text and to match questions and activities to those purposes. (SR)

Describes the work of the Clothesline Project, which both commemorates and bears witness to victims and survivors of violence against women. Explores the social implications of the notion that curriculum must enable students in schools to explore the themes and most difficult problems of their lives. (SR)

Explores what it means to think visually and spatially in hypertexts and how users react and maneuver in real and virtual three-dimensional spaces. Offers four principles of visual thinking that can be applied when developing hypertexts. Applies these principles to actual hypertexts, demonstrating how selectivity, fixation, depth discernment, and…

Describes a way students can get to know their textbook, not feel threatened by it, and get to know its many study aids by approaching the text as they would a new class member and by generating and then answering a list of questions about the textbook. (SR)

Explores reading as discursive practice, assuming that all readings are produced by particular groups to represent their specific interests. Constructs a reading of English education over the past century, focusing on a humanist conception of individualism promoted through personal growth pedagogy, and on the shift toward a poststructuralist view…

Describes, through an interview with the president of the Voyager Company, two projects that explore different aspects of the relationship between text and reader in a computer-based format. (MG)

Discusses issues surrounding virtual reality and "virtual books." Suggests that those who are exploring the territory of virtual realities are already helping to expand and enrich expectations and visions for integrating technology into reading and writing. (RS)

Suggesting that the common classroom practice of literature instruction is antitheoretical and counterproductive, this paper elaborates theories of reading processes, discusses children's responses to literature, and proposes suggestions for classroom use. The first section of the paper outlines what literature instruction is expected to…

The fundamental differences between traditional print and hypertext are likely to cause a shift in pedagogy. Hypertext radically alters traditional hierarchical structures both within writing systems and between author and reader. Hypertext engages users in qualitatively different activities than traditional print. Also, hypertext has been called…

Schema theorists have advanced the understanding of reading comprehension by describing how prior knowledge can enhance a reader's interaction with the text. Accordingly, comprehension occurs when a reader is able to use prior knowledge and experience to interpret a text's message. Educators and researchers have suggested numerous instructional…

Fifteen poets have created this guide to teaching the work of Walt Whitman from kindergarten to college level. In essays based on the personal experience of these imaginative writers, the guide presents practical ideas for fresh ways to read Whitman and to write poetry and prose inspired by him. The guide also includes three pieces on education by…

Discusses fostering democratic principles in the literature classroom, moving from reader response to democratic community, listening and democracy, listening together as teachers, and democratic reading and the integration of thought and feeling--all stemming from the work of Louise Rosenblatt and applied to the classroom and teacher/student…